


A Deceptive Redemption

by MidnightLegend



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders Are Siblings, Deceit Sanders Needs a Hug, Gen, Sympathetic Dark Sides (Sanders Sides), but it's not really that important
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:21:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23833783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightLegend/pseuds/MidnightLegend
Summary: Deceit isn't affected by what the others say. No matter what happens, he'll still try his best. Not just for himself, but for Remus as well.And yet every sentence was a lie. He was crushed by what they said, even if he chose not to show it.Maybe they were better off without him...
Relationships: Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders/Deceit Sanders
Comments: 4
Kudos: 58





	A Deceptive Redemption

**Author's Note:**

> Somehow I fit 30 pages on Google Docs into one story...and I wasn't entirely sure how to seperate it so...yeah.
> 
> Oh, and just a fair warning, there is quite a bit of (censored) swearing, and also Remus being Remus (he gets cut off though so no actual intrusive thoughts are said) so be warned!
> 
> MAJOR EDIT FROM 1/24/21  
> I changed the ending (Around when Remus mentions a little something to the end of the epilogue) to accommodate for a change of plans, so yeah.

February 3rd.

While it wasn't an important date for any of _them_ , it definitely was an important date for Deceit. Why, you might ask? It was his first appearance, or, as the Fanders seem to put it, his birthday.

Every side got at least a tweet from Thomas that mentioned it was their birthday, and it made them so happy. Especially Patton, because he was such a ball of sunshine that Deceit couldn't help but envy.

But Deceit's birthday felt less...cheerful. Maybe it was because he continued to remember things that the 'light sides' had said to him.

_"Oh, I hate this guy and his creepy... snake face!!"_

Although Roman had called him kind immediately after, it was clear that he had no idea what he was saying. He knew he was being used, he'd told Patton later on.

_"And speaking of seeking knowledge, WHERE IS PATTON?!"_

_"HOW DARE YOU STAND WHERE HE STOOD?!"_

They cared _so_ much about Patton. Although Roman could be a bit rude towards Patton, he still showed he cared about the fatherly side, almost acting as an older brother.

_"Well, this time around I'm gonna tune out that inner coach and… set things right."_

Even Thomas didn't like him. It was upsetting, how he'd been quick to accept Virgil and still continued to after the anxious side revealed more about his past, but Deceit and Remus were pushed aside and rejected just because Thomas didn't want to accept the fact that he wasn't as pure as he wanted to be.

_"Get out! Leave me alone you slippery snake!"_

Deceit actually smirked a little, remembering what happened next.

_"Ah, really? Double birds?"_

Eh, Thomas still told him to get out. And for the record, Deceit's scales were _not_ slimy.

 _"Okay, me being able to elicit fear doesn't take away from the fact that I've grown. So don't even try me with that, Harvey Dense."_

Virgil...one of the main reasons Deceit still kept trying was because of Virgil. However, he was also one of the main reasons Deceit was considering giving up. It was obvious that Virgil wasn't all too excited to have Deceit showing up...ever. The hissing and comments were more than enough proof of that.

_"Well, your face ruined my day. So we'll call it even."_

_Why did such a childish insult hurt so much…?_

Was it because of who it was coming from? Someone that Deceit had once called a friend, someone that suddenly hated him?

_"Okay, Thomas, even if he can tell the truth, that doesn't mean he can be trusted."_

Why was it Virgil that made Deceit reconsider his choices? After all, there were the Fanders that weren't all that sympathetic towards him, probably not even Remus either.

_"Are you seriously siding with Deceit?"_

_"No, lying is already bad enough!"_

_"Why is he still here?"_

_"So, he didn't want to play by the rules of your game. Big deal! This whole thing is probably rigged anyway. It was set up by a liar!"_

_"I think it's ridiculous that anyone is entertaining any of this. Guys, he's a liar. You literally know him as Deceit."_

Although Deceit tried to ignore the continuous reminders that he wasn't wanted by anyone except Remus, they just kept coming.

_"It's my sworn duty to help Thomas achieve his hopes and dreams. But Thomas wouldn't dream of attaining his hopes through deceitful means."_

_"I believe he's suggesting that you beat someone up and rob their unconscious body, right?"_

_Wasn't Roman supposed to be the 'good' side of Creativity?_

_"No, I was talking about myself. It's still difficult to believe that my participation was as restricted as it was. It was Deceit's doing, I'm sure. I would have been a more than worthy foil. Unlike him, I'm skeptical about whether a society could function without some sort of system of laws by which all of its citizens abide."_

_Yeah, go right ahead and immediately blame the one everyone hates. It surely wasn't heard._

_"Do not allow him or any of his friends to stick around that long ever again."_

_"N-One of you is enough."_

_Remus had tried to get him, and of course was immediately shut down by_ Thomas.

Getting up from his bed (He'd been sitting before, when had he lied down?), he made his way over to the light side of the Mind Palace.

_One more time wouldn't have hurt, right?_

* * *

Except, it would've.

Virgil had been the first to notice Deceit walking in and immediately hissed. Deceit didn't even have the energy to hiss back. He wasn't here to talk to Virgil anyway.

He was mostly there to talk to Patton.

Morality was in his room, as expected. Deceit had to make sure he didn't stay in there too long, Virgil wasn't the only one it had a negative effect on.

"Hello Patton."

Patton looked up at him, his smile falling slightly but not too noticeable (If someone wasn't paying attention, but Deceit almost always paid attention to details).

"Hi Deceit…" Deceit was one of the only sides to not get called 'kiddo' by Patton (Remus was the other one).

"Is there something you needed?" Deceit only nodded, hoping Patton would catch on. _He isn't that naive._

There were no words said from Deceit, but Patton seemed to put together just the right ones and still managed to come to the conclusion that Deceit expected.

"I don't think I can convince Virgil, or Roman...it won't stop me from trying though." _Thank you._

Patton was one of the only sides that didn't entirely hate Deceit. Remus was a different story, but it's not like that fazed him.

* * *

"Are you serious? No!"

That had been the reaction Deceit expected, and was the reaction he received. No amount of Patton helping him out would change Virgil's (or Roman's) mind.

"Yeah Padré, are you sure he didn't manipulate just you into saying that?" Deceit rolled his eyes, of course Roman would think that.

"Of course I'm sure Roman!" Most of the time, the other sides would usually agree with Patton. This wasn't one of those times. Even without looking, Deceit could feel Virgil's hateful glare.

Of course, he didn't even make it to the door back to the dark side when Virgil spoke.

"If you really wanted to be accepted, you wouldn't be such a manipulator, _Deceit._ "

Deceit wordlessly went to the dark side, not even slamming the door behind him like he wanted to.

* * *

The next day, Thomas called the core four up to talk about something.

Thomas had a play in just a few days. While rehearsing his lines, he noticed that he couldn't really say or out what was supposed to be happening, despite Roman's best efforts to push him in the right direction. The lines just seemed...off.

"But the one that I'm looking for...I'm not looking for anyone…" Roman was beginning to get pretty frustrated by now. He'd said the line so many times it was practically engraved in his mind, and yet Thomas still couldn't say it properly.

"What would be so hard about this line to you?" Logan and Patton were starting to figure out what was going on. There was a certain side missing from the group. They knew it wasn't Remus, because Thomas was still having intrusive thoughts.

"Maybe we should call Deceit up." Patton suggested. Roman scoffed immediately.

"Really? What good would Mr. Lies have to bring to the conversation?" 

"I actually agree with Patton, perhaps Deceit would be necessary to come to a definitive conclusion on this dilemma." Logan spoke up. Virgil shifted, definitely not comfortable with Deceit being there.

"Is he really that important to this?" Patton looked over at Virgil, since Logan agreed and Roman obviously didn't.

"Come on Virgil...I know you don't like Deceit that much, but maybe we should call him in." There was a moment where Patton wanted to bring up what happened with Virgil before, back when he'd just been known as Anxiety. He didn't.

Then the anxious side sighed. "Alright, fine. Call him up…" They could hear Roman scoff again, but just before Patton could attempt to call Deceit, someone else appeared instead.

"Alright, which one of you f*ckers said something to Deceit?" Patton gasped a little at Remus' strong language, but it didn't seem like the intrusive side cared that much, if at all. He looked downright _furious_ as he glared down everyone else in the room.

Almost like a toddler trying to tattle on someone and get them in trouble, Roman pointed at Virgil immediately.

"I- What the h*ll Roman?!" Remus blinked in surprise. He didn't actually expect anyone to either call someone out or admit it, but they technically both happened.

"You're not going to deny it?" Virgil's surprised expression quickly turned into a glare, directed right at the prince.

"Well, technically-" Logan started, before Virgil turned his glare onto him. The logical side wisely decided to stop talking.

"We weren't going to call you up anyway, what are you doing here?" Roman asked. Remus groaned, looking at his twin with either anger or annoyance. Maybe it was both.

"You really can't put two and two together Roman?" Cue the offended Princey noises. Remus rolled his eyes. He hadn't said anything inappropriate yet and he'd been there for a little under five minutes.

"You mentioned Deceit? Do you know where he is?" Patton spoke up. When Remus shook his head in response, Virgil frowned.

_'This isn't about what I said yesterday, is it?'_

Deceit wouldn't get _that_ hurt by one little comment. Sure, he had acted...not like himself then, but it wasn't like he cared that much over something that Virgil said.

But Patton had gone with Remus to go find the lying side, so it would be fine.

Right?

* * *

The next few days went pretty much the same. The date of the play was coming closer and Thomas still hadn't properly rehearsed. So now Roman _and_ Virgil were trying to get him to say the lines correctly, but to no avail.

"So when I find them, I'll...I'm not looking for anyone though…" Roman let out a long, drawn out sigh, as Virgil anxiously reminded Thomas that the play was in two days and he still hadn't properly rehearsed.

Still, they continued, and still, Thomas failed to say the line without mentioning the realistic version of the situation being described.

Not like Remus was doing much better. Each day, he'd walk past Deceit's door only to notice that it looked a duller yellow than the previous day. He'd knock, a little worried, and when he received no answer, he'd always consider going in.

The thing with Deceit's room is that it had a harmful effect on _anyone_ (except Deceit himself) that entered. In fact, that was one of the only things that stopped Remus from going in. While he didn't know exactly what happened, he knew it was bad. So he tried a different way.

"Double d*ck! You gonna come out or what?" He tried to think of when he last saw Deceit come out of his room. It was the day after he confronted everyone that he noticed something off.

He knocked again, this time more harshly.

"The dank engine needs your help with something since Prince Ugly and Emo Nightmare can't seem to do anything." If Roman were there, Remus was almost certain that he'd be hearing another round of offended Princey noises, not that he cared. Then he realized he used the same nickname for Virgil as his twin often did.

"F*ck...Roman's starting to rub off on me…" He muttered under his breath. He still heard nothing.

He walked away.

Back with Roman, Virgil, and Thomas, and they still had made no progress whatsoever.

"I'm out of options, we've tried everything…" Virgil was still anxious, but about something else rather than the upcoming play.

_'How many times have I said something a bit mean to Deceit? It couldn't just be the one comment from a few days ago, there has to be something else at play here...how many times has Thomas said something? Or Roman? Or, heck, even Patton? Remus is probably the only one that hasn't really done anything-'_

"Virgil!"

Virgil was knocked from his thoughts by Roman, who looked beyond 'Completely Done' as he would've put it.

"We need Deceit. Now." Wait, was _Roman_ of all sides seriously asking for Deceit. Sure, the prince falsely believed him to be kind because he couldn't see through the manipulation, but he still knew that he was being used.

Even still, Virgil knew that Thomas had said something to make Roman even consider saying that.

"What?"

"Thomas basically just said that he feels like he's being too harsh on his friends and that he was just being honest- We need Deceit and Patton."

Summoning Patton was easy, he didn't even need to be forced. He just rose up in his usual cheerful (Truthfully, he stopped hiding how he was feeling so much a while ago) demeanor. The same could not be said for Deceit. Even after trying every way to summon a side possible, even getting Thomas to do it, there was no sign of the snake. They got Logan, but he wasn't able to help either.

Then Remus showed up. Again.

He didn't even say anything. He just sighed, a worried expression on his face. Roman and Patton noticed this immediately.

"Are you okay Remus?" Patton asked quietly, a concerned tone seeping into his voice.

"Yeah, I haven't seen you this worried since...ever." While that was technically a lie, Roman had done that on purpose. Lying was one of the easiest ways to summon Deceit, and yet still nothing happened.

Virgil and Logan shared a look, they were both thinking the same thing.

"Perhaps Deceit has taken the same figurative path that Virgil has taken in the past and has, for lack of better words, ducked out-"

"Quack…"

"...I knew you were going to do that."

Patton grinned sheepishly, muttering a quiet "Sorry…" under his breath. Logan still heard though.

"As I was saying...in order to confirm our suspicion that that was indeed what transpired, we'll have to go to Deceit's room. Well, his corner of your mind-"

"Let's just call it his room Logan." Logan stopped talking. He was probably about to go on an entire rant.

Then everyone looked at Thomas, who had completely forgotten that they needed his help to get to Deceit's room.

"What-? Oh yeah, you need my help to get there...so do I just think about lying or…?"

"I guess...but other things to do with self-preservation too, since I guess that's what he really represents."

Thomas nodded and did just that. The not-quite-familiar sensation of sinking out just like the sides came back. That was easy enough...

* * *

After making sure everyone was there, Thomas began to look around the room.

The first thing he noticed was that either Deceit had a fog machine or it was just naturally misty in the room. It actually made it pretty hard to see.

In Patton's corner, everything really remained the same, aside from the dark yellow curtains covering the blinds. There were a few small holes with burn marks around them, which left Thomas wondering just how that happened.

With Roman and Remus, the TV was gone, leaving only the stand behind. On said stand were bottles of...wine? Roman blinked in confusion when he realized this, but Remus just sighed.

"He probably drinks wine because of me…"

The stairs in Virgil's corner of the room were mostly the same. Deceit's capelet was draped over the railing, while his hat was hanging up on the wall.

Logan looked around his corner to find notes written in green pen on a few discarded sticky notes. They mostly involved plans to get Virgil back, but a few of them were just lies he'd told himself. Other than that, there wasn't much else to see.

And finally, Thomas noticed a picture hanging in place of the one in his living room, depicting Deceit, Remus, Virgil, and another side that he didn't recognize together. All of them were smiling widely, except Virgil, who was giving more of a shy smile. That picture had to have been taken a while ago, as Remus was missing one of his teeth and Virgil was still wearing his old gray jacket. The two currently in the room in that photo were staring at it, Remus with a hint of sadness and Virgil with mostly indifference.

Suddenly, Patton gasped, turning everyone's attention towards him.

"I knew he kept it! It would be impossible to get rid of it!" He held up a snake plushie, wearing a smaller version of Deceit's signature bowler hat and sticking its forked tongue out.

"Okay, _that_ I have to admit is kinda adorable." Virgil said, hiding a grin behind his hand.

"Meet Sir Snakerson!" The father figure figment exclaimed cheerfully. Virgil snickered, while Roman just outright laughed.

"That's seriously the best name he could think of?"

"I think it's a cute name…" Thomas said. Remus was looking around, as though something were missing (Well, something _was_ missing, but he was looking for something else).

"Hm...usually Darla would be in here, but she's missing just like the s-"

"OKAY, no need to finish that sentence." Roman (thankfully) cut his twin off before Patton needed someone to shapeshift to break the barrier separating them to cover his ears.

"Well, I think we've been in here for a while, but still no sign of-"

"Just what do you all think you're doing in _my_ room?"

Without anyone seeing him, Deceit had abruptly appeared right beside Patton just then.

Patton himself flinched, turning around quickly to face the lying side. Roman and Remus both gave high pitched yelps, though at least they didn't bonk heads. Thomas shouted in surprise, while Virgil swore on accident (He didn't get called out though). Logan just turned to Deceit calmly.

Deceit himself definitely looked a lot different. His scales were way duller than they should've been, his hair was even more of a mess than they imagined, and he just overall looked exhausted, as though he hadn't been sleeping (Actually, he probably hadn't been…).

For a moment, there was stunned silence as everyone just stared at Deceit and he stared back. Finally, Remus spoke up.

"Dee, have you been sleeping at all? You look like a hot mess...and that's coming from _me._ " If it had been any other situation, Deceit probably would've laughed. However, he was still waiting for an answer as to why everyone was in his room.

"Oh, Deceit! Thank goodness you're here! I...never thought I'd be saying that." And judging from the way Deceit raised an eyebrow at his host, he hadn't expected that either.

"Really? From the way you reacted to my entrance, it seemed like you didn't really expect me to show up." The lying side folded his arms. Then he noticed Patton still had 'Sir Snakerson' in his hands and blinked.

"Where the h*ll did you find him?" Very much aware that he was still being watched, Deceit grabbed the snake plushie from Patton, who had offered it back, and held it close, almost like a child finding comfort in a stuffed animal after a nightmare.

"And you didn't answer my other question."

"Ah, right. Well, you weren't really showing up at all, so we had no choice but to come find you ourselves." Deceit narrowed his eyes. He knew his room had a tendency to make others lie, but he couldn't tell if Thomas was telling the truth or not.

"Correct. And I'm assuming then you didn't know about the play that Thomas had scheduled for two days, fifteen hours, and seventeen minutes from now?" Logan asked, with his overly specific time frames. At least he didn't go down to seconds, then one of the others would've had to intervene.

"What do I have to do with that? Isn't Roman supposed to be the one helping Thomas with his plays?" Roman, upon hearing his name, nodded.

"We all thought it was supposed to be me, but Thomas here-" He and Virgil both looked at Thomas with the exact same deadpan expression. "-was being overly frustrating when it came to his lines." At this, Deceit tilted his head to the side.

"He couldn't say his lines properly because they were technically _lies_ , and who has the most to do with lying? Oh yeah, that's right, _the one side that wasn't there when he was supposed to be._ " Virgil said, his expression melting into a harsh glare towards Deceit.

"Virgil!"

"I'm just telling the truth Patton. We already learned what consequences 'ducking out' can have." To quite a few people's surprise, Patton didn't interrupt to say 'Quack' when Virgil mentioned ducking out.

"I'm sure Dee had a reason for doing it!" A pause. "...You _did_ have a reason, right?"

Deceit rolled his eyes.

"Of course I had a reason, not like any of you would care." Then when he saw the flash of hurt on Remus' face, "Except you Remus. And a little bit of Patton."

"Only a little bit?" Patton's voice had dropped to a whisper. He hadn't been asked a question that would've led him to lie, but the urge to do so was becoming overwhelming.

"Yeah, Patton's never said anything wrong!" Roman lied. Remus glanced at his twin, only to find a few scales near his eye. Hm.

"When did…?" He trailed off, and when Roman looked at him, he touched the scaly part of the prince's face.

"What the- wait." Now that it had been noticed, the other sides (minus Deceit) were starting to gain scales too, though with Virgil it wasn't as noticeable because of his eyeshadow. Though it was definitely affecting him in a much different way.

"Well, now we know what the effects are, and don't worry, I'm _totally not_ thinking about shoving my d-"

 **"Remus."** Virgil immediately covered his mouth after he said that. His voice had become much more demonic, which happened when he became too anxious.

_'Oh no-'_

"Deceit, before we get too off track-"

"You've already failed."

"I don't care, I need you to know this. What _some of us_ ," Logan glanced at Virgil, and maybe Roman, but it was hard to tell. "Failed to realize is that you _aren't at all_ important to Thomas' shows and- wait what am I saying?"

 **"And I thought** **_I_ ** **was harsh…"** The demonic echo remained, _not that Virgil cared._

"Come on guys, everyone knows that I'm the _most important_ part of the shows that Thomas puts on." 

Patton whimpered. All the lying that he knew the others couldn't control was starting to get to him. He sent a panicked glance towards Thomas, but the host was too focused on what Logan had just said to notice. The logical side was trying to fix what he said, but he always ended up making it sound worse, he was starting to stutter a little.

He needed to get away, and so he did. Deceit was the only one to notice this.

"Look, Logan, just say what you're about to say, you're lying while talking."

" _No_ ." Now Logan was just frustrated. Now he knew just how Deceit often felt. "What I'm _not_ trying to say is that you _aren't_ just as important to the shows as Thomas is. Sure, Roman may _not_ be a large part of the performance, but not even he could get Thomas to say the line correctly, because he'd keep messing it up-"

"You guys are putting a lot of emphasis on me screwing up that one line…"

"We're _not_ just stating the truth, Thomas." Roman had apparently been stuck in his 'princely' pose for a while now, and only now had he stopped, instead opting for a different, still dramatic pose.

Remus was still trying to cover up his intrusive thoughts, but that definitely wasn't working, considering he'd start by saying he wasn't thinking about something and proceed to say what that something is, only to be cut off by either Roman or Virgil.

"And I'm mostly sure that it _isn't_ because of you that Thomas _is_ able to say the line. Since you _don't_ embody deception -and self-preservation but we'll get to that later-, it would only make sense for you to _not_ have some part in that."

"Yeah, and like Logan said, you're more than just Deceit. I should've realized that since I said basically the same thing to Virgil when he was feeling unwanted, but I guess I just...couldn't accept that I'm not as pure as I'd like to be...but I can't expect that, because everyone's lied at some point."

"It's like I _haven't_ said before, 'Lying is basically just acting', so _with_ you, I _can_ really do my job."

Even through all the lies, Deceit still got the message they were trying to convey. Almost every side had just given him a reason to come back. Key word being almost.

"Look, I'd be lying- ha, how ironic- if I said I didn't appreciate what you all are saying...well, not all of you…" And then, something happened.

 **"Look, Deceit. We may** **_have_ ** **gotten along recently, and that's definitely** **_not_ ** **an understatement, but...the others are** **_wrong_ ** **. The truth is...I've started to think that** **_none_ ** **of us are important, and** **_everyone_ ** **is more important than anyone else. I guess you** **_can't_ ** **take what you** **_didn't_ ** **want to focus on with Max Sterner...that he believed all people** **_weren't_ ** **equal. And even after I left the...this side, I still thought about what I** **_didn't_ ** **leave behind. I'm** **_not_ ** **talking about both of you by the way."** Virgil made sure to address Remus and Deceit there. When he didn't continue, just took a deep breath, Deceit almost automatically did the same.

"I…" Deceit, for how much he loved seeing how words fit together, had none to describe exactly how he felt now.

"And you _don't_ already know how I feel, but I'm _not_ going to say it anyway. I speak for both myself and Patton when I say this, you mean _nothing_ to me. No matter how much I constantly annoy the sh*t out of you, I'm _never_ laughing with you instead of at you. It _does_ matter what I say, I...holy sh*t I'm actually going to say it...I _hate_ you...so much. And if I were to lose you, I...Well, I would be _everything_."

With all these words, the messages hidden within them, Deceit ducked his head down, and _cried._ He wasn't sobbing, but he definitely knew there was a flow of tears making tracks down his face.

But after a moment of silence, before the lying side could say anything, something else happened.

"I have _every_ idea where that came from so I'm going to pretend that I'm _not_ thinking about a thing that-"

 **"It** **_wasn't_ ** **hard to admit that so it better have worked-"**

"Can we all just focus on the _least_ important person in the room-?"

"With the rant I _didn't_ just go on I swear if that didn't work I _do_ know what will-"

They'd been in the room too long...the scales were becoming more prominent on everyone, including Virgil, and they were starting to lie a _lot_ more than before.

"Oh no…" Thomas looked around at all his sides, finally stopping once his eyes found Deceit.

"Don't tell me-" 

"Patton got out in time thankfully, but the others have been in here for too long." Thomas started looking around again. Everyone else's voices were starting to overlap, since they were all trying to be heard. He was reminded of what happened when something similar happened in Virgil's room.

"I- We need to get them out of here…" Deceit nodded in agreement. He couldn't get them out on his own, no matter how much he tried. So, after thinking of what could possibly get them out of the room, Thomas finally found the solution and one by one, everyone was sinking out, including him.

* * *

Just like with Virgil's room, everyone just appeared back in the living room instead of rising up like the core four usually would.

"Now, _don't_ tell, what on earth made you think that was a _bad_ idea?" Deceit said, mostly directing this at Thomas.

"I'm going to admit it now, it was mostly my idea." Roman attempted to take the blame, but Logan stopped him.

"Actually Roman, going to Deceit's room was _my_ idea." Deceit resisted the urge to roll his eyes at that.

"For being the logical one, that _was_ a very logical move." Logan only sighed, not even responding.

"I can't believe I'm the one saying this, but if you'd been here from the beginning we wouldn't have to have done that." Remus nodded, agreeing with Virgil, which at first surprised him, but he didn't voice that aloud.

"Funny, that sounds almost exactly like what Thomas said to you when you did the exact same thing."

"Oh hush." Deceit raised an eyebrow at that, what seemed like the tenth time he'd done it.

"Hey kiddos!" Patton rose up beside Deceit, who very carefully pretended that he wasn't startled by it.

"Patton!" Thomas smiled. Everyone looked at the snake plushie in his hands. And then at the _actual_ snake laying comfortably around his shoulders.

"Oh now where was she when we were in Dee's room?" Remus asked, putting his hands on his hips.

"I dunno, I just found her." The snake bleped at Deceit. He bleped back. Patton had to try not to squeal, although that was easier said than done.

"I'm assuming she's yours then Deceit-?"

"Damien." Thomas' eyes widened a little.

"I thought you said…?" Remus trailed off, saying that in a similar way to how Logan had in his introductory episode.

"Changed my mind." Deceit had folded his arms, the snake now resting on his shoulders instead, while Patton still had Sir Snakerson.

"So...your name is Damien?" Deceit- er, Damien nodded.

"Still deviating from Patton's, Logan's and my name then." Roman pointed out. A silent glance was shared between the two dark sides and the one former. That didn't mean it was a discreet glance though.

"Did I say something?" Now Thomas, Logan, and Patton had caught on and looked at the three.

"It's nothing-"

"It _is_ important right now-"

"There's one other dark-" Damien, a little panicked, snapped his fingers and then Remus clasped a hand over his mouth.

"I believe, Damien, that Remus has already said enough for the rest of us to fill in the rest."

Then all eyes were on Thomas.

"You know what? I don't think I want to know right now. I need to sleep, it's late and I've got a performance in two days." Everyone had been quiet up until Thomas had mentioned the play.

"OH!" Roman looked at Damien.

"I- We _won't_ work on that tomorrow, you really _don't_ need to get some sleep." Roman nodded, and Logan spoke up just as he was sinking out.

"Well, since this appears to be dealt with for now, I'm going to get ready for bed."

"Yeah, me too, this whole thing really had me tired out."

"I really thought you were going to make a dad joke…"

"Guess I'm just a bit tired...anyways, here's Sir Snakerson back, night big bro!" Patton said before sinking out himself.

"Night."

"Wait- Did Patton just-?"

"Save it for another day Thomas." Roman was next.

"I should probably get my room ready, it's going to look like a tornado came through it when Remus' room merges with mine."

"Hey!" Remus folded his arms like a child.

"You two are going to share a room now?" Remus nodded excitedly.

"Yep! It'll be just like before. Oh- and happy late birthday DeeDee!" He exclaimed just as he too sank out. Damien smiled.

"You guys have birthdays?" Thomas asked. He was learning a lot about the sides now.

"Eh, birthday, day of first appearance, it's mostly the same thing. Mine _wasn't_ exactly a week ago, so I'm just going to sleep because it's been a long day…" And then Damien was gone, leaving just Thomas and Virgil.

"Well happy one week late birthday then…"

Virgil took a breath. He was...honestly glad to have the others as part of the family now.

"Oh- Virgil, before you go…"

"Hm?"

"Can I at least get a hint on what Remus meant by 'one more dark side?'" Thomas saw the way Damien had glanced at him when he said that he didn't want to know right then. It was the same glance that he always gave someone when they were lying.

"Oh...well, fine, just one hint." Thomas shrugged. It was good enough.

"There's still a color missing." And then Virgil sank out, leaving a very confused Thomas.

"A color missing…?" He had...oh wait.

He had purple, indigo, cyan, green, red and yellow.

Orange was the missing color.

* * *

#  **~Epilogue~**

Damien wasn't honestly (ha) surprised to see the dark side of the Mind Palace still existed. He and Remus had already been accepted, and Orange probably wouldn't reveal himself for a while.

So why then, was the door open?

Curiosity took over for a moment, and he went in, noting just how cold it was compared to the light side.

He wandered for a while, seeing that the places where his and Remus' doors had been only hours prior were now empty.

But in that same hallway was another door, an orange one. A reminder that there was still another side who had yet to show himself. Damien considered knocking, but given the day's events, he doubted that the other would want to talk to him.

Still though, he managed to bring just a little courage and knocked anyway.

The sound echoed throughout the Dark Mind Palace, followed by a strangely ominous silence. The door remained closed.

At least, until Damien started to walk away. He heard the slight creak as it was opened just a little bit. The lying side had no doubt that the other was looking for who had knocked.

More silence followed, until...

"And just what do you think you're doing back here, _Janus?_ "

**Author's Note:**

> Yes I wrote this is Google Docs-  
> And yes I hinted at another character...  
> It probably won't lead to anything though, unless you guys want it to.


End file.
